Nahum 1:1-3:19 ~ Revelation 8:1-13 ~ Psalm 136:1-26 ~ Proverbs 30:7-9
Today is the 17th of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. It’s great to be here with you today. I’m Brian. Of course, it is always a pleasure any time that we can continue in the rhythm of the scriptures as a community, which is exactly what we’ll do today. So we’re at the end of another week and at the beginning of another book. We will be reading it in its entirety today, the book of Nahum
Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)
The book of Nahum is another book of prophesy written to the city of Nineveh, so 150 years earlier. Even though it hasn’t been that long since we read this, 150 years earlier from this book God had sent Jonah to the city. And when he delivered God’s message, Nineveh fell on its face and repented and was spared. Now they’ve returned to their wicked ways and are as bad off, if not worse than they ever were.
Nineveh was the capital city of the great Assyrian Empire and its conquests were known to be very brutal. It was the Assyrian Empire that destroyed Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel and took them into exile. So again God sends a prophet to Nineveh, Nahum, preaching repentance and a return to God. The Ninevites did not listen this time and the prophesy of judgment came true in 625 BC with the destruction of Nineveh and the falling of the Assyrian Empire.
The ruins of ancient Nineveh exist until today. They’ve even been in the news because of some of the destruction of them that has been happening. Nineveh currently is in modern day Iraq near a city called Mosul and, of course, that has been in the news with all that has been going on. That is where Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire was and its ruins still are. So that is where we are talking about.
Nahum’s prophesy shows that God is merciful and he is very patient, but he is not a pushover and he is not going to stand for a nation’s sin forever. This should spur us all on to be the agents of change that we are supposed to be in the places that we live, to be the catalysts for repentance and a return to our God.
So we begin Nahum chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 19.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for the relentless reminder today that your steadfast love endures forever. In the Psalms we read this ancient call and response prayer and over and over and over confessed the truth that you are good and that your steadfast love endures forever. So we invite you. Come Holy Spirit and plant that truth right at the level of our identity. We know it to be true and so often we’re living otherwise. We’re frantically thrashing around as if it weren’t true, so we invite you to come and bring this stabilizing reality into our spirits so that it overflows into everything about our lives. Your steadfast love endures forever, which means there will never be a moment that your love isn’t steadfast toward us. Come Holy Spirit. Make that a reality to us and change us in the process so that our steadfast love for you endures forever because this is a relationship that you’ve invited us to and we have accepted. So it is required of us as well that we be faithful, loyal and intimately intertwined with you. Come Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website. It’s home base. It is where you find out all the things that are going on around here and the resources that are here to resource this community. So be sure to check that out. There is still one more day left for Christmas shipping. You can find things in the Daily Audio Bible Shop and they can still arrive for Christmas if you’re in the United States. If you’re international, we will ship them, but the likelihood of arriving before Christmas is not something we’re super confident about. Maybe but not sure about. If you’re in the United States, we can still get it to you through tomorrow, so check out those things.
And then we’ve been talking about the More Gathering. The More Gathering, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, that is instant registration. The More Gathering is our women’s conference that we do each year and it is profoundly impactful. All you have to do is find somebody who has been and they can tell you for sure. It is hard to describe, but it is deeply impactful. It is a gift of time. It is less the gift of travel. Travel is involved obviously. This takes place in the Southern Appalachian Mountains outside of Atlanta in Georgia and it is beautiful there, really beautiful, but then it is the great exhale once you get there, just the exhale of not having to think about anything and just having the community around you that you’re going through the Bible with. Just the sisterhood that falls on that place is incredible and the relationships that are developed that become life-long friendships even across miles is really, really beautiful to behold. That is just to say the least. The More Gathering for Women, we bring this out this time of year because it is truly, truly a one-of-a-kind Christmas idea for the woman in your life or the women in your lives. It doesn’t just have to be your wife. It could be your sister or a girlfriend that you want to go with or something like that, so you can check that all out at www.DailyAudioBible.com. You’ll find the More Gathering fairly easily and all of the details that you would want to know about it are there, so check that out.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we prepare to close out the year of 2016, then it is humbling that we get to do this at all and that we are about to finish 11 years, seven days a week is… I don’t have words to put to that. I can’t believe that we’ve been able to do this together. But that’s the thing. We’ve done it together. Everything we’ve ever done has just been kind of born out of what grew around this, the community that grew around this so long ago. So as we prepare to move into our 12th year of bringing God’s spoken word to anyone who will listen, anywhere on this planet, any time of day or night, and to build community around it so that no one has to ever feel alone again, to begin year 12 means we have to do another year together. Thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the home page of www.DailyAudioBible.com. If you’re using the app, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner or if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.
And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.
And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Hello Daily Audio Bible listeners. This is Marcus from Columbia, TN. I wanted to wish all of you an amazing heartfelt Christmas wish. I listened to Brian’s message on Obadiah and it just kind of sunk in that we have brothers and sisters that are suffering around the world. I pray that you would think of them this Christmas with all that they are possibly even suffering through in all parts of the world. Brian, I thank you for this amazing program. I listen to you almost every day and I am just grateful to be a part of this community. So Merry Christmas everybody and have an amazing, life-changing New Year.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family. It’s James, the teacher in LA with an urgent prayer request. I’ve mentioned that I faculty sponsor for our school Bible club and the president of the club came to me yesterday afternoon, __________ call in, but a very good friend of hers from her church, another teen gal, was driving two of her friends to school I believe Friday morning and in some kind of freak accident, I don’t know all the details, but apparently some piece of metal debris or shrapnel managed to get flung into her car. She was the driver, the young lady, not my student, but her friend Abbie. It hit her in the head, knocked her unconscious instantly, caused a car accident for her and her passengers. Her passengers had minor injuries, but Abbie, last I heard, had brain surgeries all weekend, is still in the hospital. My student, Claire, God bless her, said that she knew if and when Abbie wakes up from this, she is just going to say that she is glad that it wasn’t someone who didn’t know the Lord who got hit because it would be a good witness that God doesn’t take out people that don’t know Jesus. Guys, these are Kingdom people. We need them healed to do God’s work in the world, so please pray that they would be healed to the glory of Christ. I ask this in Jesus’ name, guys. Thanks. Love you. Bye-bye.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Alphaio calling from Delaware. Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is an attitude. It is a great way to acknowledge all that happens in our lives and to glorify the one who created us and who has us in the palm of his hand. Life can be challenging. Many times we feel downtrodden, no energy to go on, no motivation to finish the day, and no hope for tomorrow. God never misses any detail of our lives. He numbered the hairs of our heads. God sees and knows it all. He never misses your tears, your groaning, your pain and the many pleas. I choose this day to be faithful to glorify God and being grateful for all he has done and all he has in store for our lives. All that happens to us, whether good or bad, comes with a purpose. And remember that God could never let anything come to your life that he has no purpose for. Be it for the greatest error in our lives or the greatest pain, it will turn your situation to one of divine purpose. So rest in the assurance that Jesus has granted us full life. He prayed that we would have a full life, so lead that full life today and forever starting with an attitude of gratitude. Thank you, Lord, for all that you are doing, all that you could do, and for your constant pursuit of us whether we are ready or not ready for you. Give us your Spirit to guide and to lead us to your loving arms even in our lowest moments. In Jesus’ name, amen. Daily Audio Bible family, I love you all. This is Alphaio from Delaware. God bless you.
Good morning. It is December 14, 2016, at 8:11 a.m. and I am Sally in Brunswick and wanted to just call. I’m a first time caller to the Dabber family, but I’ve been listening as a Dabber for a little over a couple years now. I just want to thank Brian and Jill and family for the ministry that they have for this community. It has been a real blessing to me and to my family. I join in with prayers as I hear the prayer requests and so I’m just calling today to bless everyone and to thank everyone for the prayers that they offer up and also to have a prayer request of my own today. I’m seeking God concerning some decisions that I need to make, ministry decisions. I’m an associate pastor but have been in ministry for a little over 25 years. I’m faced with some new decisions that I need to make and just trusting God for whichever direction I will go in and just would love the opportunity to lift this up for this particular season of my life and __________ of my family. So I thank you. Again, just want to bless everyone during this season and say thank you for the opportunity to hear your voices and to hear your prayers of intercession go up before the Lord and to be able to join with you in the atmosphere of prayer. So I just bless each one of you and thank God for you and your lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hi, good morning family. Today is Wednesday, the 15th. This is Kim from California. I haven’t called in a long time. I’ve had a very busy year this year. I got married and I want to thank all those that prayed for me and my husband. I just want to say that right now I want to ask for your prayers. My husband is actually in Florida today and he is looking at a house. We’re going to be moving to Florida pretty soon. His family is back there. We know that family is the most important. He’s looking at a house so I just want to ask for your prayers and if this is the right house for us, if this is the place God wants us to be, please let us know and let us get the house for a reasonable cost. I also want to say that those of you that are new to the Daily Audio Bible, please know that this is a good time to catch up if you’re behind on any of the podcasts. Everything will disappear come December 31st. I learned this many, many, many years ago. It is just gone. So if you need to catch up, now is the time to catch up. I know my time is going, but I just want to tell all those women to go to the More Gathering. I went there 2013. I wrote on a little stone, they have something they do, and I wrote “bride” on the little stone. It is something that you want in your life, and 2016 I became a bride. I got married for the first time in my life. I’m 59 years old. So please have faith, women. Please have faith. It will happen. I have such a good, good, good husband. My time is going. I just want to say I’m praying for Tim in Tampa, Sarah, Danny. I’m still praying for Nancy in Seattle. God bless you all. I love you. Bye-bye.
Hello. My name is Mary R. I’m just calling in response to the first gentleman who called in on December 14th. I heard your prayer request. You’re now homeless after an accident and multiple broken relationships, it sounds like, simply needing forgiveness in your own heart. I have no eloquent words for you, my brother, other than I’m praying for you. I heard the cry of your heart through your message. I believe in the redeeming and restoring work of Jesus Christ on the cross, as I gather you do from your message and from your years of listening. So I will just continue to be in prayer for you as you heal, as your spirit heals, as relationships heal, and as the Lord brings all good things out of this difficult time for you. As your sister in Christ, I send my love to you and I will remember you. God bless you.